LittleBigPlanet 2 turns gamers into game creators

Ability to design new games revealed

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Media Molecule previewed LittleBigPlanet 2 to journalists this week, with the reaction being that this is a game changer in more ways than one.

CVG, which shares the same publisher as TechRadar, was given a first-look at the PS3-only game and has described its new AI controls as something which "could represent a giant leap forward not only for the games industry, but for user-generated content in general."

Game creator

As with the first LBP, as players in the game you have a whole host of creation tools to play around with.

But instead of creating platform levels, users now have the chance to create whole games.

Media Molecule has coined the phrase that LBP2 is not just a platformer but "a platform for games".

This is something CVG wholeheartedly agrees with, explaining: "In LBP2 a level can start off as a simple platformer and suddenly change into a top down arcade racer or a giant robot beat 'em up or an Asteroid-style space shooter.

"Even the LBP team themselves can't list all the variables - because it all depends on the ingenuity of the online community. And from what we've seen in the past, ingenuity is not something the LBP fans are in short supply of."

Direct control

AI in the game has been improved, in that you can now create your own Sackbots – programming their behaviour and even their looks. This can then be controlled through something called a Direct Control Seat.

It sounds complicated but CVG notes that "the studio's probably the best in the business at moulding the elaborate into the elementary".

If it means that we can create our own personalised version of Space Invaders in the game, then no matter what hoops we have to jump through we'll be at the front of the queue.